by johnnymarin | Aug 7, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
While many of us think of the weather as merely a guide for our wardrobes, there are numerous industries, like aviation and energy, that depend on meteorology for their business.
A drought, for instance, will certainly have an impact on hydroelectric facilities in California and on farmers and ranchers.
That could be why many Americans spend so much money on instrumentation to track the weather for their homes and businesses.
Animals seem to have an innate knack to do just that. Enter American racing pigeons.
The birds can live up to 20 years and, like thoroughbred racehorses, are fed the finest grain and treated with tender loving care.
Central Coast resident Mike Brazil, who passed away last year, bred and trained American racing pigeons for more than 50 years.
He would drive more than 450 miles to Northern California to release his flock along with other groups of pigeons.
After traveling northward in a specially designed trailer, the athletic and highly trained birds were raring to get into the air and fly back home.
Upon release, the pigeons go straight up in the sky, like a rocket out of Vandenberg Air Force Base, and circle overhead for a few moments to get their bearings and judge the winds.
“The sky can turn nearly black with so many pigeons in the air at once,” Mike once said.
American racing pigeons rely on the sun, landmarks, Earth’s magnetic field and even smell to navigate their way home.
Most impressively, they use their own instinctive ability to find the location of tail winds in mere seconds, unlike meteorologists with the most sophisticated weather analysis tools who may take hours.
The airspeed of a racing pigeon is roughly 45 mph. With tailwinds, their actual ground speed can reach nearly 100 mph for brief periods.
During the spring and summer, the winds through the Salinas Valley are often out of the northwest at the surface, heading toward the southeast below the temperature inversion layer.
The winds are often strong and persistent, perfect conditions for pigeons.
Eric Wessel has seen his pigeons flying along Highway 101 near the ground, brilliantly avoiding obstacles with a twitch of their tails or a beat of their wings.
If a cold front is coming down the coastline, the winds near the surface are often out of the southeast and blowing toward the northwest, producing strong head winds for the birds, while the winds higher up in the atmosphere can actually be blowing in the opposite direction.
Somehow, the birds know that, and they can be seen as tiny specks streaking across the sky as they take advantage of the tail winds.
Most researchers agree the birds probably have an internal compass to navigate by following the Earth’s magnetic field.
Scientists have discovered clusters of nerve endings wrapped around magnetic iron oxide on each side of the pigeon’s upper beak, which may act as that compass.
Racing pigeons are affected not only by the weather at the surface of the Earth but also by space weather.
On cloudy days, solar storms can disrupt a pigeon’s natural compass, causing it to lose its way.
After about eight to 10 hours of flying southward from Northern California, the birds arrive at their Central Coast homes and are carefully logged in to determine who won the race.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 6, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
The Box Elder County Fair, one of the most celebrated spectacles of summer in Utah, is made possible by the behind-the-scenes work of an army or volunteers.
Over the last 12 years, few have given more time and effort to the cause than Bob Belew.
Belew’s specialty at the fair and throughout the year is small animals, specifically chickens and pigeons. He has served as a mentor to hundreds of youth in the 4-H small animal program, teaching them the finer points of showing the birds and doing all that it takes to win a coveted ribbon at the fair.
While chickens, pigeons and rabbits have been part of the huge livestock show for decades, there was no organized 4-H club for that classification until Belew came along, and at the request of fair organizers, started one.
For three years, he politely declined requests from the USU Extension office for him to start a club, until a grandson of his grew old enough to participate in 4-H. Belew took his grandson to a poultry club event in Farmington, and the boy took a shine to the birds. That was all the motivation he needed to get organized.
“They called again the next year and I said I’ll do it,” he said. “Twelve years later, here we are.”
In the club’s first year, Belew signed up about a dozen kids to participate. That number has grown steadily over more than a decade, and chickens and pigeons have become a mainstay at the fair thanks largely to Belew’s efforts.
“Thursday nights we would hold meetings starting the first week of June up until fair time,” he said. “I taught kids the right way to put a chicken in the pen and take it out, and the judges would ask five or six questions. We would give every kid a medallion with a ribbon to put around their neck. I wanted to see every kid at least get one of those.”
Membership in the chicken club quickly grew from around 12 kids to about 45, and it wasn’t long before the Extension office came knocking again, asking him to start a pigeon club as well.
“I had pigeons as a kid, so I thought I could link them together (with the chickens),” he said. “We don’t do showmanship with them, just put them in pens and the judges pick best of show, best of breed, best pair trophies. But the kids still get their prize money.”
But his contributions to the fair don’t end with birds. Belew has been a tireless fundraiser, forming relationships with local businesses and county officials to raise money for new facilities and building renovations and improvements at the fairgrounds, and for prizes for the annual chicken and pigeon shows. His grassroots efforts have helped build new poultry pens and other structures, and generally help make the fair’s livestock show second to none in the state and the region.
Belew has created long-lasting relationships with local prize sponsors, up to point where the program now receives more than $1,000 in gift cards every time the fair rolls around.
“We make sure they all get a thank you card, and every one of them says ‘see you next year.’”
He gives credit to the generous spirit of the local community for making things happen.
“Box Elder County is the most giving bunch you’ve ever seen,” he said.
He recounted the story of one local business owner who donated as he has done every year, despite being in a life-or-death battle with cancer.
“He’s in the hospital and I didn’t know if I should ask this year, but I went there (to the business) and his daughter said he told her to ask if we wanted gift cards,” Belew said. “He’s fighting that battle, and was still thinking about doing that for the kids. That’s the kind of people you find here.”
He has also become a go-to guy for distributing the annual fair book guide. Every July, Belew enlists the help of 4-H kids to take copies of the book around to local businesses from Brigham City to Snowville and all points in between.
“We deliver to more than 100 businesses and cover about 270 miles by the time we’re done,” he said.
Belew will turn 79 this year, and said he isn’t sure how much longer he will be able to continue his work with the fair. For the last two years he has been mentoring someone to eventually take over the work, but for now he says he continues to be motivated by the spirit of the fair.
“This fair is one of the best in the country, and it’s the biggest thing in Box Elder County,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of what I do at the fair.”
But the longest-lasting impressions he will take away from the work when he finally decides to call it quits will be the positive impacts he has been able to have on the kids in the program. Making a difference in the lives of youth makes all the hard work worthwhile for him.
“My concern is always teaching them to be responsible for their animals,” he said. It gives them something to do, keeps them off the street.”
He recounted a story of a couple with a son who was very shy, and they couldn’t talk him into to participating in the showmanship portion of the chicken program. They asked Belew to have a talk with the boy, and watched their son come out of his shell before their eyes.
“I sat him down and told him how proud his mom and dad would be if he did this. I told him that he knew the answers to all of the questions, and he could do it,” he said. “He missed one question and got third place, and that mother and dad, just the look on their faces — that’s all that mattered.”
Belew’s long-standing contributions to 4-H and the Box Elder County Fair will be recognized in August when he takes his rightful place as Grand Marshal in this year’s fair parade.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 5, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
As the fight between a Ponoka man and federal veterinary officials continues over imported pigeons, concerns over whether the birds can transmit Avian Influenza to other species seems overblown.
Earlier this month, Guido Pfiffner was informed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that the 61 breeding pigeons currently in quarantine would need to be destroyed by July 13, unless the German government could validate that the birds were swab-tested for Avian Influenza (AI).
Dr. Faizal Careem, an associate professor of virology at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in the Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, explained that the issue isn’t as easy or as black and white as it may seem.
“Influenza is kind of a strange virus. If one refers to textbooks, it says that pigeons are not susceptible to this virus and can not be carriers,” he said.
“But, since 1944 there has been tons of literature — both field and experimental studies — and they all say that pigeons are susceptible.”
In the past 74 years, 24 countries across four continents have conducted a total of 32 field studies and 22 experimental infection studies stated Dr. Careem.
“There are multiple studies, multiple authors and multiple countries involved, so I trust that data,” he added.
Dr. Careem explains that, in general, pigeons that carry the virus or antibodies — indicating previous exposure to AI — won’t show signs or symptoms.
“The most susceptible to the virus are wild waterfowl and shore birds, though the majority will only carry the virus and show no clinical signs. Pigeons are the same,” he said.
However, he noted that the virus is detectable in pigeons if it is present even though there are no clinical signs showing.
That testing is usually done in two ways: through taking a swab of the bird’s rear end or the nasal cavity; or via a blood test.
Carrier or transmitter?
Where the confusion comes in is on whether pigeons will transfer the disease to other bird species.
“There are some experimental infection studies that have been done with pigeons injected with the virus and then monitored to ensure they were excreting the virus. The pigeons were then co-habitated in the same cages as chicken and turkeys,” he said.
“What they found then was that none of the chickens or turkeys were infected.”
One reason for those results, as evidenced in the experimental findings, was that the pigeons didn’t secrete large enough doses of the virus to induce an infection into the far more susceptible birds they were placed with.
“Pigeons do have enough receptors that allow the virus to get into the birds, the issue is now that they have some form of natural resistance. That means the virus may be controlled to what may a be a low grade infection,” he added.
He also explained that it usually takes about a week for an AI infection to run its course in a pigeon and between 14 and 21 days for antibodies to show whether there is an infection or not.
Now while two big Avian Influenza strains — H5N1 and H7N9 — have made the news in recent years, there are literally hundreds of possible combinations as Dr. Careem noted there are 18 H subtypes and 11 N subtypes.
Yet, as influenza viruses are well known for mutating, Dr. Careem believes if the virus better adapts to pigeons it may well see the birds secrete vast amounts of the virus — large enough to infect other birds.
“That can happen, but we don’t know as there is no experimental evidence to suggest that is or has occurred,” he said.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 4, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Homing pigeons — those birds with the remarkable ability to find their way home over vast distances — have fascinated city-dwellers for over half-a-century.
Decades ago, the birds were an iconic symbol of New York City, with coops lining rooftops and racing clubs taking to the skies. Although less common today, pigeon fliers still exist.
We recently ran into Pete, of Staten Island’s Mulligan’s Place Loft, as he released 60 homing pigeons for their first training flight.
Fliers begin training homing pigeons a few weeks after birth. At first, they carry the birds in wooden crates a mile or so away from their home lofts, and release them to see if they can learn their way home. With each training flight, the distance the pigeons must travel is increased.
The first training flight for Pete’s pigeons will require them to travel about two miles — from Grymes Hill to their loft in Rosebank. Watch the video above to see the pigeons take flight.
Mulligan’s Place Loft started flying pigeons competitively in the early 1980s, and has garnered over 100 national awards, according to its website.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 3, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
VENICE, Italy-Ten years after the ban was placed on public feeding, the ‘holy pigeons’ at the St Mark’s Square in this Italian city are not ready to migrate.
They are still as friendly – in fact annoyingly friendly – as they were when the authorities banned the common practice of feeding the pigeons to stop them from ruining their UNESCO city status.
There are still many visitors who in the blink of an eye throw something for the pigeons who firstly fight for the food and then “chase” the donor for more.
Security officials are on the look for the tourists who attract pigeons – with the baits – and could come up with anything from a verbal warning to a €700 fine, for the violator. The huge fines have been effective in discouraging the people from feeding the birds. The ban on feeding the pigeons was forced in 2008.
In ‘Venice: A Literary Companion’ Ian Littlewood explained the origins of the Piazza San Marco’s pigeon colony: “According to tradition, it was from the gallery (of the Basilica) where we are standing that the original pigeons were released on Palm Sunday, weighted by pieces of paper tied to their legs. Most of them ended up on the dinner table as part of the Doge’s Easter largesse to the populace, but the rugged survivors were felt to have earned St Mark’s protection. So year by year, a few more pigeons found refuge among the domes on the basilica. They have since grown more numerous, and the enthusiasm of most tourists for the birds is short-lived, but as the average visitor now spends less than twenty-four hours in the city they still have plenty of friends.”
Pigeons perching on seed-throwing tourists used to be the square’s trademark. Today, the pigeons have formed colonies throughout the city, and the estimated 100,000 birds far outnumber Venice’s 60,000 human residents.
It can be disconcerting to walk down a street and encounter several dozen pigeons flying toward you at head height. They usually miss pedestrians, but sometimes may hit.
The sellers of pigeon food were legally banned from the Piazza San Marco in January 2008, which means nobody is able to feed pigeons unless he or she is a violator of the rules.
Those trying to please the pigeons have to sometimes pay for the love. In some cases, the whole budget to spend vacations in Italy is paid in fines.
Laura Smith, a tourist from the US said that she did not agree with the ban. “I would love to feed the pigeons here but the Italian authorities have the right to force their rules. In principle, I am against it (the ban). When the places are linked with saints, pigeons are frequent visitors,” she maintained.
Antonio Russo, an Italian visitor of the site defended the decision against feeding the pigeons saying it would help keep the square clean. “(Before 2008), it was common that the tourists complained about being pooed on the head or shirt by the pigeons. All rules are meant at facilitating the people,” he remarked. Initially, there were protests by the grain sellers against the anti-feeding decision in 2098 but they have slowly opted for other businesses. The pigeons, however, remain undecided.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
